Bully Pictures and Bully Bros Post went off the deep end with their latest collaboration for Siltanen & Partners Advertising and Panda Express. Director Craig Tanimoto and Visual Effects Supervisor Kiki Chansamone teamed up to create a spot titled “Shrimp Divers” in which talking pandas Eddie and Tom-Tom don diving gear in order to satisfy their ravenous appetite for shrimp. The spot is part of a new campaign launching Panda Express’ Honey Walnut Shrimp.
The scenes featuring the wise-cracking bears sitting on the sea floor are composites made up of dozens of live action and CG elements. Tanimoto shot the bears at the Memphis Zoo, marking the third time that he has worked with the animals for Panda Express. It’s a task that requires a great deal of patience and imagination.
“You can’t work with them like trained animals,” Tanimoto explains. “They don’t have handlers. It’s rather a matter of spending a lot of time with the animals and trying to capture the right expressions and movement. After we shoot the bears, we go through the footage to find pieces that can be animated together.”
In order to get the bears to perform the actions required by the script, Chansamone took pieces from several shots and combined them. He also animated their eyes to make their demeanor match their dialogue. In the process of doing so, he produced torsos for the two bears that can be reused in future spots to save time and production costs.
The post team shot a number of other practical elements for use in the composites including water bubbles, flippers and a fishing net. A snorkel worn by one bear was produced as a CG element so that it could be easily tracked to the movement of the animal’s head.
The underwater environment itself was assembled from still photographs and CG elements. “We did several debris passes for amoeba and other things drifting in the water,” Chansamone says. “There are a lot of subtleties and nuances that you need to sell the illusion.”
About Bully Pictures
Bully Pictures was formed in 2004 by Executive Producer Jason Forest as a full-service TV commercial, internet viral, short film, and international production service company. The company represents directors Fredrik Callinggard, Gaute Hesthagen, Daniel Kaufman, Christian Lyngbye, Franco Marinelli, Jeroen Mol, and Craig Tanimoto. For more information, write info@bullypictures.com
Credits
Spot: “Shrimp Divers“
Client: Panda Express
Ad Agency: Siltanen and Partners.
Rob Siltanen, Joe Hemp and John Payne, Creative Directors; John Payne, Art Director; Graham McCann, Copywriter; Chris Anthony, Producer.
Production Company: Bully Pictures, Los Angeles.
Craig Tanimoto, Director; Jason Forest, Executive Producer.
Post: Bully Bros. Post, Los Angeles.
Kiki Chansamone, Visual FX Supervisor/Artist.
